


the voice that's calling you home

by KataraYue



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Gen, M/M, Post-Time Skip, Referenced Kenma/Hinata
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:41:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26275831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KataraYue/pseuds/KataraYue
Summary: When Kenma announced he was leaving for São Paulo, Kuroo didn’t know how to react. He was happy for him, but there was something else, something unknown and scary growing inside of him. He didn’t remember what life looked like without Kenma living next door.But now, weeks later, safely nestled against Bokuto and Kenma in a plane hours away from him, Kuroo thinks that maybe, he finally gets it. Kuroo smiles as he realizes that there’s nothing that could really keep him away from the man he’s come to consider his family, and his home, as long as he’ll keep him close to his heart, waiting for the day they’ll be together again.
Relationships: Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou, Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 16
Kudos: 34





	the voice that's calling you home

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is me coming out as a "kuroo and kenma are family" kind of gal

Background noises surround them as they walk through the aisles of Narita Airport, making their way towards one of the terminals. The sun is still high in the sky, and as it’s not exactly the most popular time of the year to travel, the airport is fairly empty, as far as one of the most important airports of Japan can be, but the contrast with the noise level inside the café they were waiting at is enough for Kuroo to be acutely aware of every sound around him.

Steps echo all around him, mixing with the steady noise of the suitcase casters on the floor. A feminine voice announces the next departures and the last arrivals through the speakers, in japanese, then in english. It’s a robotic, yet achingly sweet voice, it makes Kuroo’s skin crawl. He likes much better the chatter of the crowd of strangers around him, most of them speaking in languages he can’t understand, but unlike the robotic voice, there’s life in them. Kuroo finds out he doesn’t like airports, but maybe it’s the reason he’s here that makes him think that.

Kenma is walking a step ahead of him, amber eyes narrowing in search of something, inscrutable. In some ways, the way Kenma is taking in the environment around him, aware of everything, everyone, reminds Kuroo of their volleyball days, of Kenma’s calm analyses and his unreadable tactics. Kuroo watches him walk ahead of him, holding his chin up, and smiles. In some ways, Kenma still reminds him of the child, then the teenager he once was, but many things have changed since then.

When he turns around to look behind him, Kuroo is met with the tight face of Kenma’s mother, holding onto her husband for support, probably taking advantage of the fact that her son is facing away to stop smiling. When she sees Kuroo looking at her, she offers him a small smile, probably meant to be reassuring, but Kuroo sees the way her grip tightens on her husband’s arm.

Kuroo looks away and continues to follow Kenma in the airport, acutely aware of every sound around him. He thinks he probably wouldn’t be if one of them was talking. It’s a weird atmosphere enveloping them, silence enfolds them, neither comfortable nor awkward, but meaningful. They walk towards their goal, and it’s like a chapter of their lives is about to close. It’s like it has been closing for weeks now, ever since Kenma has told them he was leaving for São Paulo. Even there, in this airport, as they head towards Kenma’s plane, Kuroo still can’t really imagine it. He sees that the page is about to turn, that he’s reached the point of no return, yet he still doesn’t know what awaits him on the next page.

He doesn’t feel sad, not really, but there’s this heaviness inside of his chest that just won’t go, no matter how hard he tries to ignore it. It’s the anticipation of the lack of cold yet judgemental comment the next time Kuroo will try to play a new video game, and ultimately suck at it, it’s the realization that the next time he’ll get to see his best friend will be in few months, when he used to stop by his house a few times a week to remind him to eat. It’s knowing that once all is said and done, he’ll have to watch Kenma leave.

It’s a weird and foreign feeling, but it’s not bad, per se. It’s scary, maybe, but when Kuroo sees the fierce look in Kenma’s eyes, he sees the appeal in this change.

It doesn’t take very long for them to reach the furthest point they can go to without buying a plane ticket. Kuroo stops right beside Kenma, waiting a few seconds for Kenma’s parents to join them. The second Kenma notices his mother’s expression, the determination in his eyes seems to falter a bit, his face softens, concern apparent in his features.

“Mom…” he starts, but she cuts him off by squeezing his forearm. It’s a small gesture, but Kenma gets it.

“Today is not the day for laments,” she says, the words come out with difficulty, her voice is shaking a little, but her tone is assured, almost commanding. She taps her cheeks a few times, lightly, to pull herself together again and looks at Kenma with a new found light in her eyes. “I’m happy for you. You know that, right?”

Kenma’s lips curl into a gentle smile as he answers, “I know Mom.” He pauses for a second, contemplating adding more to this, finally saying, “I’m happy too.”

“Then everything is good! This is so exciting! My baby is leaving the country, can you believe it honey?” she says to her husband, who stopped a step behind, letting his wife be a bit closer to the two other men. “I still remember when you were wearing diapers!”

“Mom,” Kenma reiterates, his voice annoyed but his eyes fond.

She stills for a second, letting out a small squeak that makes Kuroo chuckle. She probably didn’t realize she was about to start rambling about Kenma, like she often does. Behind her, her husband is also softly laughing, a look of utter adoration displayed on his face, unabashed and almost reverent. 

“Sorry!” she hastily says. She then looks at Kenma, and Kuroo thinks he sees almost twenty-five years of love and memories pass before her eyes. She moves her hand from his forearm to his cheek, almost hesitantly, and in the slightest touch starts to stroke the skin with her thumb. “I just love you.”

Kuroo can see the way Kenma looks just slightly down when he answers, his voice a bit lower than usual, “Me too.”

“Alright,” she says a bit too cheerfully, snapping everyone out of the moment. Her eyes are a bit watery, but they all pretend they don’t see it. “We have to hurry, you can’t miss your flight. Sure you have everything ready?”

“Yes,” Kenma breathes out, Kuroo hears the unspoken _“It’s only the hundredth time you ask me.”_

“Really? Your portuguese dictionary? Your sunscreen? The address of your house?”

Kenma sighs, and at this point Kuroo knows his answer by heart. “You know I have an application on my phone for that, _you_ put sunscreen by force in my bag, and Shouyou is coming to pick me up at the airport.”

“Okay, okay, just making sure,” she states, fixing the collar of Kenma’s jacket. “You call me as soon as your plane lands okay? And I want pictures of your house too, last time I saw it everything was still in the boxes,” she pauses for a second, focused on Kenma’s collar before looking up at him, “And don’t forget to eat, just because Tetsurou won’t bring you lunch anymore doesn’t mean you should skip it.” Kenma simply nods at her requests. “Make sure you visit a lot too, São Paulo is a beautiful city and I want my son to show me around when I’ll come for a vacation.”

Despite the situation, Kenma manages to make an exasperated face at the idea of going outside for too long. “I’m sure Shouyou can do that,” he says, earning him a light tap on the arm from his mother and a loud cackle from Kuroo.

“It’s not the same!” his mother complains. Kuroo’s laugh seems to remind her that she’s not alone with Kenma at the airport, and when she opens her mouth again, she’s directly talking to Kuroo. “You’ll come with us right?”

Kuroo smiles fondly at her, “If work isn’t too demanding, yeah.” He eyes Kenma, somewhat smiling at him, and Kuroo can feel his smile turning sly. “Kenma will pay for our tickets anyway.”

“Shut up, I’m not buying you anything,” he says dryly, and the normality of the interaction makes the knock in Kuroo’s chest loosen a little. “I’ll buy my parents’ but you pay your own ticket.”

“Rude,” Kuroo says, but his smile strips the word of any of its meaning. Kenma is smiling too, a small smile, but it’s more than enough for Kuroo.

“We might see each other before that though.” Kenma says it like an afterthought, but he’s looking at Kuroo intently, analyzing his reaction. He waits a few seconds, but when everyone looks questioningly at him, he elaborates, “If the Asas play the Jackals I mean, it could happen.”

Kuroo smirks at him, “You mean if my boyfriend kicks your boyfriend’s ass?” 

He vaguely registers the disapproving look Kenma’s mother is sending him, but he’s focused on Kenma, way too thrilled to see the fire in his eyes light up. He opens his mouth, probably ready to argue, but his mother speaks before any word can cross his lips. 

“Can you two stop it?” she sighs, but by now she’s way too used to this to actually say anything more than that. “And please don’t do this to me, I wouldn’t know which team I’m supposed to support.”

“You don’t even watch the matches,” her husband points out, an amused smile on his lips.

“But I still cheer for them!”

Kuroo and Kenma laugh at her outrage, and while she’s busy talking to her husband, Kuroo faces Kenma once again, his eyes still glowing with laughter but his face softer.

“You know that you won’t get rid of me by flying to the other side of the world right?” he teases.

“If it was that easy,” Kenma answers in the same tone, his face open, softer than Kuroo has ever seen him.

Kuroo feels tears gathering behind his eyelids and quickly blinks them away, refusing to acknowledge how his throat is tightening, or how he’s now the one about to turn the page, to close the chapter.

He inhales deeply, shakingly, and says in a voice that almost doesn’t sound like his own, “I’m gonna miss you.”

With the same smile and the same glistering filter before his eyes, Kenma answers, “I’m not dying.” 

Kuroo hears _“I’ll miss you too.”_

Without a word, Kuroo steps closer to Kenma and takes him in his arms, loosely at first, letting him pull away if it makes him uncomfortable, but as soon as he feels Kenma’s hands on his back, clenching at his shirt, he tightens his embrace.

“I love you,” he says, and it’s not something he usually needs to say, it’s something Kenma knows without any word being spoken out loud, but nothing about this situation is usual. Hugging Kenma, telling him he loves him, watching him leave. There’s nothing normal about that, nothing comforting about changing so many things at once, about turning gestures of love into words and comfortable silences into tight hugs. But there’s also nothing comforting about Kenma leaving Tokyo, so Kuroo feels like if there’s one moment he’s allowed to actually say it, it has to be this moment.

Kenma tightens his grip on his shirt, a few seconds pass, and Kuroo feels more than he hears Kenma’s mumbled “Me too.” against his chest.

It’s the sound of a soft click that tears them out of their hug. They pull away from each other and turn towards the sound to see Kenma’s mom, a triumphant smile on her lips and a camera in her hands.

“I can’t believe it took this long to finally have a picture of you two hugging,” she says, grinning brightly as she looks at the picture she just took. “Tetsurou, move a bit on the left, I want to take more pictures!”

Without resistance, Kuroo and Kenma follow her instructions, letting her take as many pictures as she wants for a few minutes. She then looks at them with her husband, discussing something with him, and Kuroo takes advantage of the moment to talk to Kenma again.

“I want pictures of your house too, you know,” he says conversationally.

“And I want pictures of Pudding,” Kenma replies in the same tone.

Kuroo feels his lips curl upwards at the mention of Pudding, the tiny cat Kenma and Hinata found in their backyard a few months ago. At this moment, she was probably happily playing with Bokuto at home, but back then, she was still a kitten, malnourished and clearly traumatized, and even when Kenma and Hinata took her in, she was always hiding under the couch, or somewhere in the house, away from them and from the other cats, curled up and frightened. But surprisingly, she immediately took a liking to Kuroo, she was still scared and it took a long time before she would relax around them, but Kuroo was the first one she actually let pet her, or take her in his arms. When Kenma decided that he would follow Hinata in Brazil, he also took the hard decision to leave Pudding in Japan, thinking that such a long journey would be too stressful for a fragile cat like her. She was doing better now, but Kuroo had agreed that she probably wouldn’t handle the change very well.

“Deal,” Kuroo concludes as Kenma’s parents walk towards them, declaring that they want to take pictures of the four of them before Kenma’s departure.

They rapidly check the time and realize that they have to hurry if Kenma doesn’t want to miss his flight. Still, when his parents both take him in their arms, they’re unwilling to pull back, Kenma’s mother trying not to sniffle too obviously, but ultimately failing. Everyone seems determined not to show any negative feelings in front of Kenma, even though he’s perceptive enough to see right through them.

When Kenma’s dad lets him go, he turns towards Kuroo as his father immediately takes his wife against him, supporting her as much as he can. Kenma smiles at him, but he doesn’t make any move to hug him again. Touches are pretty rare between them, but they’re always meaningful.

“I’m not leaving forever.” 

Kuroo knows that, he’d hug him again if he were.

He simply nods and Kenma adverts his gaze for an instant, casting a glance at his parents. He looks at Kuroo again, his eyes intense yet soft, “Take care of mom.”

Kuroo swallows with difficulty, feeling the weight of everything settling down on him. “I will,” he says, and for once his face is nothing but serious. They both know that the woman next to them is as much Kuroo’s mom as she is Kenma’s.

His parents take him in their arms one last time, reluctant to let him go, and Kenma smiles softly at Kuroo from where he’s pressed in their arms. Noticing that their group hug isn’t quite complete, Kenma’s mother grabs Kuroo’s arm and forces him to join them.

When they finally release him, Kenma turns around, and walks towards the airport security, not looking back once. It makes Kuroo chuckle, pride slowly blooming in his chest alongside the lump in his throat. Kenma walks away, confident and proud, and Kuroo finds out it’s not that hard to watch him leave.

The page is almost turned, and Kuroo will soon have no other choice than to face the next chapter. It’s scary, but knowing Kenma is going through it with this fierce look in his eyes and this unwavering determination in his steps makes him want to do the same.

* * *

The ride back to Tokyo is mostly silent, aside from the low humming of the radio and the occasional sniffles of Kenma’s mother. She’s not crying, but she’s not trying to cover up her sadness anymore. Kenma’s father is driving, focused on the road, sometimes humming along the songs. His face is neutral, but just like Kenma, his eyes are expressive and Kuroo can see the myriad of different feelings flicking through them in the rear-view mirror.

It’s finally Kenma’s mother that breaks the heavy silence of the car, “You’re coming home for dinner this week-end.”

“What?” Kuroo asks, a bit taken aback by her sudden statement.

“This week-end,” she turns around in her seat to look at him, “I want you home for dinner. Or maybe not this week-end, but just— I need you and Koutarou home soon, okay?” she asks, her eyes almost pleading.

“I— Yeah but—”

“You know our house will always be your home, right Tetsurou?” Kenma’s father asks, his eyes focused on the road.

“Of course I know,” Kuroo answers earnestly. Kenma’s mom extends her arm towards him, and almost mechanically, he takes her hand.

“Good,” she says, squeezing his hand. “Because I need you to promise me you won’t forget that. I need you home every time you visit your father, and I need to cook for you and Koutarou as often as possible, okay? I just—” she inhales deeply, taking a few seconds to compose herself, “I can’t let my other son slip away from me.”

Kuroo blinks a few times slowly, processing her words. He then squeezes her hand back and offers her a small smile. “Okay, I promise.”

* * *

“I’m home,” Kuroo calls out as he steps into his shared apartment with Bokuto.

From where he’s sitting on the couch, Bokuto shushes him, gesturing wildly towards his chest where a tiny calico cat is sleeping soundly. The sight makes Kuroo’s heart soar, Bokuto beaming at him, looking like the happiest person in the world with Pudding curled up on his chest, lulled into sleep by Bokuto’s breathing. She’s already a tiny cat, but Kuroo notices how she looks even smaller in the arms of someone as buff as Bokuto. 

At first, Pudding had a hard time getting along with Bokuto, mainly because of how loud he usually is without even noticing it, but when Kuroo sees them together like this, he has to face up the fact that no one can resist Bokuto’s charm, not even their easily frightened little cat.

Kuroo smiles and takes his shoes off, lining them up neatly in the entrance. The apartment is bathed in the afternoon light, warm and welcoming, highlighting the pictures framed on the walls he knows all too well. Kuroo steps inside and walks towards the kitchen, his mind already more at ease in the familiarity of their apartment. He casts a glance at Bokuto, looking at Pudding like she’s the eighth wonder of the world, and smiles, the heaviness in his chest a bit less prominent.

He takes his time to drink a glass of water, appreciating the calm atmosphere around him, something he doesn’t get to experience that often living with someone as loud as Bokuto. Still, it’s a comforting kind of calm, it’s tranquility instead of silence, it’s alive with Bokuto’s breathing and the ruffle of his clothes against the couch. It’s soft gasps from Bokuto and shy whimpers from Pudding, a familiar warmth filling the air and turning their apartment into their home. It’s something Kuroo doesn’t get to experience when Bokuto is away for his matches.

A loud bang can be heard against their wall, from the hallway outside of the apartment, and the moment is broken. Pudding wakes up and flees towards their bedroom, Bokuto vaguely complains about it, and something clicks inside of Kuroo.

Silently, he puts his glass down in the sink and walks towards the couch, where Bokuto is now sitting alone, obviously disappointed at the lack of cat on his chest. But the second he looks up at Kuroo, his face softens, golden eyes filled with love and a tinge of worry he can’t hide. Without a word, he opens his arms and Kuroo wastes no time, plopping down on the couch next to him. He wraps his arms around Bokuto’s waist and puts his head on Bokuto’s chest, smiling when he feels the patch of warmth where Pudding was sleeping. He presses his face harder against Bokuto’s body and hums contentedly when his boyfriend starts running his hand through his hair.

His reaction makes Bokuto laugh as he continues to stroke his hair, Kuroo feels every vibration of the laugh directly against his skin. “How are you feeling?” he asks, his voice laced with concern.

“Fine,” Kuroo says half-heartedly. He waits a second and adds, “Kenma-less. We’re having dinner at Mom’s this week-end.”

“Okay,” Bokuto breathes out softly. He lets Kuroo stay here as long as he wants, simply being there for him by his touch, his presence. It makes Kuroo feel loved, safe. “It’s okay if you’re sad,” Bokuto says after a while, his voice nothing more than a whisper. In other circumstances, Kuroo would call that a miracle. “You’re allowed to be sad, you don’t have to pretend. I’m here for you, okay?”

Kuroo looks up at him, propping his chin on Bokuto’s collarbone, and takes his time to look at his boyfriend. He takes in the gentle way his eyes trail on him, understanding and thoughtful, studies the face he wakes up to every morning, every curve and every imperfection on his skin. He finds everything about Bokuto beautiful. He looks at him and the revelation he’s had earlier hits him again, harder, stronger than before. He tilts his head up and Bokuto leans down, meeting him halfway. The moment their lips touch, it’s like the last piece of the puzzle he’s been trying to solve for weeks finally falls into place.

When Kenma announced he was leaving for São Paulo, Kuroo didn’t know how to react.

“I work from home anyway, it doesn’t matter if it’s Japan or Brazil,” Kenma had said. Then, in a lower, more afflicted tone, “I don’t want to do the distance thing again.”

Kuroo was happy for him, for choosing to follow what could make him truly happy instead of the safety of what he had always known, but there was something else, something unknown and scary growing inside of Kuroo. He thought about the distance Kenma had mentioned, and realized he didn’t remember what life looked like without Kenma living next door.

But now, weeks later, safely nestled against Bokuto and Kenma in a plane hours away from him, Kuroo thinks that maybe, he finally gets it. There are many things Kuroo would call home, be it the weight of Bokuto’s arms around him, the smell of his grandma’s homemade food or the silence that comes when he’s watching Kenma play one of his games, but up until now, none of those were ever taken away from him.

Kuroo grew up being loved by two families, feeling as much at home at the Kozume household than at his own house, Kenma always by his side. When he became friends with Bokuto in highschool, it wasn’t anything challenging either, while going to different schools, they were both from Tokyo and could see each other regularly. Falling in love with his best friend, settling down together, all of this was a natural progression of their relationship, and slowly, without even realizing it, Bokuto’s arms became the safest place on Earth for Kuroo, the place he would always return to.

If there’s one thing Kuroo knows for sure, it’s that Hinata means as much to Kenma as Bokuto means to him, but through the years, they had to face different hardships. Distance had always been between them, first between Tokyo and Miyagi, and later on between Japan and Brazil, it was hard, but they managed to do it. When Hinata came back from Rio to join the MSBY Black Jackals, it was the first time in years of relationship that Kenma could actually spend more than a few days with the man he loves.

Kuroo can’t imagine how this feels, but he knows all too well how an empty home feels like, how lifeless his apartment becomes every time Bokuto is away. It’s not unbearable, but it’s a constant weight in the pit of his stomach, a weight he, most of the time, doesn’t even realize exists until Bokuto comes back and takes him in his arms again.

So Kuroo gets it, he gets how after finally getting to wake up next to the person he loves, Kenma doesn’t want it to stop. In his place, Kuroo would probably do the same thing. So even though it hurts, being away from Kenma, Kuroo can only be proud of him for making what must have been the hardest decision of his life. Somehow, Kuroo feels like it's also the easiest decision he's ever made.

“I’m not dying,” Kenma had said at the airport, “I’m not leaving forever,” he had said, looking directly into Kuroo’s eyes.

Kuroo smiles and realizes that there’s nothing that could really keep him away from the man he’s come to consider his family, and his home. Kenma might be flying to the other side of the world, but Kuroo knows, finally understands, that it only means that a part of him, and a part of his home will now be in Brazil.

And Kenma knew all along that they’d be fine, that they’d adjust to this new reality, until the time they could be together again. Kuroo realizes that, in some ways, they have changed, but in many ways they’re still the same two little boys they once were, shy and afraid, but Kenma always reaching out to him first.

Kuroo tilts his head and deepens his kiss with Bokuto. He relishes in the sensation of Bokuto’s lips on him, of his hand still going through his hair, of his body heat warming him up. He squeezes Bokuto’s waist tighter, and feels the heaviness in his chest finally, _finally,_ disappear.

The page is turned, it’s the beginning of a new chapter of his life, and Kuroo isn’t afraid to face it anymore. His home may be scattered all around the world, but it only means that he’ll have to keep it closer to his heart, waiting for the day they’ll be together again. His home is in Tokyo, in his childhood bedroom and between the walls of Kenma’s parents’ living room, his home is hidden behind the smile of his friends and tastes like Bokuto’s lips on his body. His home is also sitting in a plane for São Paulo, following the voice that’s calling him home too.

When he thinks about it like that, Kuroo really doesn’t find it so scary anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this while listening to the spirit soundtrack on loop and i think it shows, title is from brothers under the sun
> 
> anyway kuroo and kenma's relationship is one of my favorite things in hq and i'm glad i got to write about them!
> 
> thank you for reading, comments and kudos are highly appreciated and if you feel like it you can come talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/martialarcs) ❤


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